The mobile sharing app Snapchat is an excellent tool to promote your real estate business and build brand awareness. Whether you are a first-year agent who is just starting out or a major player in your real estate market, the following tips can help you engage and build loyalty among your customers on Snapchat.

Before you start snapping, chatting, or sharing your story, be sure to think through the following:

Know who your audience is and what their interests are

Develop a plan for how best to engage your audience

Create memorable content

Stay authentic to who you are and what your core brand values are

To showcase your brand, create stories* that feature:

Special Events: Preview an open house, share company or professional milestones, or promote a partner event.

Behind-the-Scenes Content: Give your clients a look at what you do to stage and prep a home for sale, share how to pick the best neutral color to paint before you sell, or give a tour of an up-and-coming neighborhood or community.

Q&As: Engage your customers and receive important feedback. Address frequently asked questions or pose a question that you want answered by your audience. Be sure to keep all responses and questions brief, and avoid being vague.

Sneak Peeks: Share exclusive content just for your followers, such as new, high-demand listings before they go on the market or post a home tour and include features that make this listing special and unique.

Your Personal Story: Post photos and mini videos of what a day in the life of a real estate agent is like to give your audience a better understanding of what you do.

Other approaches to help grow your business:

Do an Account Takeover: Let an influential Snapchat user take over your account for a day. Consider asking a business partner in a related field such as interior design, house photography, or an influential client.

Highlight New Blog or Website Content: Share teaser images and videos through a Snapchat Story and let people know where they can find the full post or new feature. This allows Snapchat to act as a “trailer” for your website to spark interest.

Things to Remember:

Being on Snapchat now can show that you are not a social dinosaur, but if your audience is not active on this social media platform then it may not be the best app for you to promote your business

The whole point of Snapchat is to be quick and in the moment

Snapchat is all about creativity and innovation

It is fine to skip a day if there is nothing to snap – less is more

Avoid starting lengthy conversations on Snapchat because it does not keep a record

* A Snapchat Story is a snap that you broadcast to followers. Recipients can view your story an unlimited amount of times in 24 hours, and you can post multiple snaps to your story in one day to create a narrative loop. You can access your story and your friends’ stories from the Stories screen (swipe from right to left on the Camera screen).